A fork in the road
by xey
Summary: Rory comes to a fork in the road where her life could go in two different paths and she heads down one path only to wonder what would have been if she went down the other
1. The Longest Letter

CHAPTER 1

The Longest Letter

It all started out just like a scene from a TV show. I was the perfect little girl that every one loved. I got along great with my mom and my boyfriend and I were so cute together. I just wish that I could go back into time and reverse what I have done.

I would have never betrayed that ones that loved me. I don't know what I was thinking about. I mean I was love with Logan. Or at least I thought I was. I mean you don't go cheating on your boyfriend with your ex when you are in love with them. Maybe I'm not the girl that I thought I was. I wish that I was still talking to my mother but ever since our fight I can't seem to bear being in the same room with the woman.

I mean I knew that I was doing something wrong and I was going to make it right. She didn't have the right to go and attack me in front of the entire Gilmore clan. I don't think that I will ever be able to forgive her for that.

I mean I know that I was in her shoes I would be upset that my daughter was calling me from jail, but I would understand enough to listen to what she had to say. Then I would jump her for being so stupid. I mean they didn't learn from the whole Jess situation did they. I am not the perfect little girl that they all think that I am. I am capable of making mistakes just like everyone else but because everyone thinks that I am the town's Holy Grail, I can do no wrong and that the guys that I date are always to blame no matter what happens.

So I guess I could blame my situation on the town that I grew up in for causing me to turn out this way. If it wasn't for them pushing and pushing perfection on me every time that I turned around I wouldn't be here now. I wouldn't be writing what will go down in the history of Rory Gilmore's life as the longest letter the most deserve guy in the world. I know that it's supposed to the guys leaving but I have hurt Logan in more ways then he will ever know and now the only thing for me to do is to return with Jess to California. I mean after all Jess was always there for me wasn't he?

Well I guess this letter isn't going to write itself. I mean that would be great but part of the ability of moving on is dealing with the pain as it comes. A wise man with great coffee once told me that and to this day I am still following that advice. So I guess I should stop putting this off and write the letter.

_Dear Logan, _

_I am writing this to let you know something that I am sure you have heard already. I will not be putting any sort of address on this letter so you can give up any hope of ever finding me. I know that is mean but I must do this on my own because I got my self into this on my own. I blame you for nothing. I know that you are worried about me since I left you standing that lonely night. I know you thought that it was your fault. Trust me when I say it was not your fault I had to leave in order to find out who I am. I am no longer your Ace. I will never be Ace again. I have decided to go somewhere no one will be able to find me. I have a friend who is going to help me out with this and he will make sure that no one can find me. I don't know how I am going to get this to you but I know that you will get this letter within the next few weeks. By then it will be too late. I will be out of your touch. Good Bye. Always Rory_

I know that isn't the best letter but it is the best I can handle. I sure hope that Jess wasn't lying to me when he said he would help me out. I know that this is the only way to guarantee that no one will find me. I know that I should have told Mom and Luke about this but they wouldn't understand. All they care about is me completing Yale and become a journalist, but I know that some times plans change and I will not be stuck like glue to this plan that we created when I was four. Now I am 24 moving on with my life and ready to do that without the assistance of the Gilmore name. So from here on out I will be known as Leigh Hayden. I hope that Jess can help me out with getting a new identity.


	2. The Hunt

**Chapter 2**

**The Hunt**

Six months had past since she wrote that letter to Logan. She found herself sitting in herfavorite chair reading "The Great Gatsby" watching Emma Grace sleep, when she started to wonder if that was the right thing to do. She kicked herself every day thinking about him and wondering whether or not he had gotten it and whether or not he even cared about the situation that she was in. Granted that she put herself into this situation but she hated what she did to Logan.

"_No matter what happened in the past, it was best for all parties involved that I just well enough alone. _

After all things were going great for her in California. She had a great job working with a local newspaper company. She was determined to make a great life for her and Emma. Jess had been such a great friend through out the whole ordeal. She was starting to wonder why she had ever let him leave in the first place. The only problem was that she wasn't ready to get involved in a relationship when she didn't even know where she stood with her feelings for Logan.

At that point she heard the front door open. Wondering who would be home at this time she got up to go and check it out.

"Jess, is that you?" called out Leigh. _I don't know why I call out to him. I mean if it isn't him and rather a criminal do I really think that they are going to answer? I don't understand my self sometimes._

"Yes Leigh, it is I." Jess called back to her. "Do you think that you could come and help me with the groceries?"

So Leigh got up from the chair that she had been sitting in and went to help him out. As she went from the back room to the front door she continued to wonder whether or not she was doing the right thing. After all she really didn't know who the father was so maybe it wasn't Logan's, maybe; just maybe it was Jess'. Anyways she will never know but her daughter will have a father if it was the last thing she did.

"So what are you fixing us for supper tonight? I mean after all it is your night." Leigh asked Jess in a kind of hoping voice.

"I don't know what do you want me to fix since I know you have been thinking all day long about this?" Jess replied to her with that skirmish grin that she was ever so used to by now.

"Now what makes you think that I have been doing that all day?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe the fact that you do that every day on my nights since Emma was born. Ever since you were once again allowed to have coffee as an ingredient. And don't deny it because I know you."

At that point the phone starts to ring which ends up waking Emma up since absent minded Leigh left in the nursery when Jess got home.

"Great; just great," Leigh exclaims, "she just went down less then an hour ago. Make you a deal I will grab Emma if you get the phone and then I will treat you to take out, deal?"

"Sure, works for me I didn't want to cook anyways." Jess states as they walk towards the back room to get the phone and Emma.

Picking up the phone to look at the caller ID, Jess recognizes the number as his uncle's dinner. Seeing as Leigh was involved with Emma he steps out of the room to take this call. Knowing that Leigh had left every thing dear to her old life in order to give Emma a normal life, he hopes that Luke is calling just to make sure that Jess is still alive and not because he had some how find out that his girlfriend's daughter had turned to Jess for help.

"Hello Mariano resident. Jess speaking."

"Hi Jess," a familiar voice called from the other end of the phone, "How have you been? I bet that you weren't expecting a call from me, were you?"

"TJ, is that you? What are you doing calling from Luke's? Wait did something happen to Luke? What is going on?" an extremely anxious Jess starting to scream into the phone.

"Calm down buddy, Luke is just fine. He and Lorelei are so wrapped up in the whole hunt for Rory, that he asked me and your mom to look after the dinner for a while."

"What hunt for Rory?"

"The one that has been going on for the past 6 months when she didn't show up to her mothers house. I mean they have been searching hi and low for her, night and day."

"Do they have any idea where she is?" asked a very nervous Jess. _Oh god what am I going to tell Leigh. She has been so happy lately I would hate to ruin that._

"Nope they haven't the clue but I will tell you that I have never since your uncle and Taylor work on the same side of anything and they are heading up this campaign together."

"Oh wow I guess they are really concerned about Rory. But is there any reason for the hysterics?"

"Well it seems as though Rory wrote a letter to her boyfriend, telling him that she was really sorry and all but that she was going to somewhere no one would ever be able to find her."

"Ok I am starting to understand the hysteria. But what I don't understand is why did you call me?"

"Oh sorry bud, I totally forgot. Well her mom was thinking that the last place she would think to look for her daughter would be with you. They asked me if I would call you to see if you had heard from her. You haven't, have you?"

"Well actually I did hear from her about 6 months ago. She said that she was trying to find some relatives of her father. I haven't heard from her since, but I swear if I hear something I will let you guys know, but at the moment I have to let you off the phone because it seems as though my roommate could use my help right now. Tell everyone that I say hi. Bye." And with that Jess hung up the phone and turned around to see Leigh standing there with Emma asleep in her arms.

"Leigh, let me explain," Jess started to say but before he could say anything else, Leigh came over and gave him a great big hug and a kiss on the check. She whispered in to his ears a very quite and sincere thank you. As she pulled away, Jess noticed that there was a small tear running down her face. Jess knew that being away from her best friend had to be killing her. He just wished that there was something that he could do.

"Why don't you just call them? I'm sure that if you would just talk to them they would understand."

"NO! They won't understand. Ok we have been over this a million times and I need you to promise me that you will not call them. Now I have to go put Emma to bed then I am going to go to bed because I am exhausted. Good night."

Jess just stood there in shock. She finally had the proof that everyone still cared about what was going on with her and she wasn't going to do anything about it. _Well I don't care if she doesn't want me to do this, I have to do this. They deserve to know the truth._

**Next chapter: Betrayal on the Highest Level**

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. I really hope to update about once a day. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. **


	3. Betrayal on the Highest Level

Chapter 3

Betrayal on the Highest Level

The next day while Leigh was at work, Jess knew that this would be his only chance to find out exactly why she had left Stars Hollow. He only hoped that he could find what he needed to be able to convince her that what she was doing was hurting not only her but would eventually hurt Emma. As he walked into her room, he just felt the same feeling that he had felt when he first walked into her room back in Stars Hollow. How he wished that he could transport back to that place in time, when he didn't have think that betrayal would be the only means of getting one his best friends back. That when he looked into the eyes of this wonderful little girl he was holding in his arms, that he would know that she was with her entire family. He had grown up without much of a family and knew the pain that it causes not knowing anything about his past. But then he was given a gift that he could have not asked for. His uncle brought him into his family, creating a family that Jess finally felt safe in. He couldn't bear to see Emma grow up feeling the same way that he felt.

"Ok Emma, where does your mommy keep her past journals? I know that she saves them, but where does she put them?"

At that moment Jess started looking around to find the object of his desire, knowing that his discovery would probably cause the hardest rift in their relationship. When he placed his eyes on a little box in the deepest corner of her closet he knew that was what he was looking for. The same keepsake box that Leigh received from her father for her graduation from Chilton. The box that she was never away from. It kept every secret that Leigh herself couldn't keep.

As Jess open the box, he caught a scent of the perfume that she used to wear when they had dated. The memories came flooding back as he looked through the pictures. There was one of her with her grandparents, many with Lane and Lorelei, and there even some of her with him. But who was this man with the blonde hair? Jess didn't recognize him from Stars Hollow.

"_Maybe this is the mysterious boyfriend that TJ was talking about."_ Turning the picture over, Jess saw that Leigh had written an inscription on the back. While most of the writing had been rubbed off, he could still make out the name Logan. He starts to wonder what ever happened between them that would cause her to move here with him.

At that moment a note, which had been written on a napkin from Al's Pancake World fell to the ground catching Jess' eye. As Jess leaned over to pick it up he knew in an instant what the note was. It was a letter he himself had written to Leigh when he came back to Stars Hollow the last time. It was the note where he finally told her that he had changed and that he was hoping that they would be able to rekindle the relationship they both had yearned for.

_I wonder why she kept this letter all this time I mean this letter wasn't that major._

Skimming over the rest of the content of the box, he noticed a journal dating back to a little over a year ago. Knowing that it would probably be wrong to open it and read, Jess knew that if he was to ever find the true reason she agreed to come with him, he had to open the book. As Jess opened the journal, sometime in side of him knew that this would be the point in their relationship he would never be able to get back if he was in fact wrong.

The first entry was dating the day after he gave her the napkin note. As he read it he understood why she kept it for so long. It was his note that caused her to fall in love with him all over again. The next few notations were the thoughts of a girl in love. It wasn't until he got about half way in that he noticed that she was fighting within herself. Fighting between her love for one man and her love of another. Knowing that she would hurt one of them, she was contemplating which one her heart could live with out and which one she could not be with out.

Not knowing that this battle was raging on in side of her, Jess was a little upset at the following entry.

_I know that I have been unfaithful to my heart and to Logan. My heart yearns for me to be with Jess but I have found my self with child. I know I must decide who I am to be with. The only problem with being with one would be that I can't be with the other and I don't know which on is the father of my daughter. I am afraid that if I even mention the possibility that Logan could be a father, he might just have a heart attack. I know that Jess is willing to help me out in what ever I decide to do. I guess that I know what I have to do. I think that I am going to leave Logan and everything this life had brought and go with Jess. I don't know; maybe California is the place for to finally start a new life with out the watching eye of everyone I know. Maybe people in California won't treat me like I am some huge walking porcelain doll. What ever happens I will never tell either guy about the possibility that they could be fathers. I want everything to be easy to deal with. I will just raise my daughter myself. My mother raised me by herself and I turned out great. I mean I will have Jess there and he would be a great father figure to her. Then it is settled I am going to go with Jess to California and on my way there I will write to Logan to let him know what is going on. _

As Jess sat there, reading and rereading the entry, he was in complete shock over the situation. Why did she just come to him and tell him that he could have been the father? He looked down to see a sleeping Emma and realized that what she thought maybe true.

_What if I am Emma's father? What will I do next?_ He knew one thing. He had been hurt by Leigh over to many things that he didn't know if he could trust her. He was deeply hurt by the words written on these pages. He needed to leave. He had to go somewhere that the air was fresh. It was then that it dawned on him. Stars Hollow. He was going back to his uncle's. He needed time with out Leigh being around. Maybe he could find this Logan character and have a nice manly talk with him. He knew that he stilled loved Leigh, but he couldn't be around her at the moment. So with that he left. He drop Emma off at this friendly neighbor, wrote a note to Leigh explaining that he was going back to Stars Hollow to help Luke out with the dinner knowing that she would not be alarmed by that. She herself knew TJ and Liz. They can't even from water in their own house let alone run a dinner. Jess would be the best one to help out since he was raised by Luke in that dinner. He would use that time to find out the answers to the numerous questions he had burning in his head. And with that he left.


End file.
